We Can Do This
by blinnn
Summary: Leaving for separate universities? Well that sucks! Dasey! Used to be One-Shot... not so much anymore. haha
1. We Can Do This

**Author's Note**: Hello there! I know, its crazy that I am contributing this much! haha I don't know why, I just have a lot more time on my hands lately. & I have been feeling EXTRA Dasey-ish. lol if humanly possible. haha. I was mentioned in **When0Derek0Met0Casey**'s goodbye video on youtube as an under-rated, amazing vidder. haha It made me BEYOND happy. :] In case you didn't know, I'm kthxilyxxx on youtube ALSO. Other than that... this idea kind of came to me while reading Jannika's review [dasey_snark on Livejournal!] of "Take your step-kid to work day". Someone had said that Casey and Derek basically can't go a day without talking to each other, and it dawned on me that its COMPLETELY TRUE. haha Anyways. This is a result of a plot bunny I guess. Enjoy! ONE SHOT!!!!! So don't put it on your story alert, because there won't be more! haha

* * *

**We Can Do This...**

**Living Without Derek?**

**(No, thank you!)  
**

A life with Derek fan fiction

I DON'T OWN LIFE WITH DEREK, unfortunately. :(

Derek could hear her through the wall connecting their rooms. She had been crying for a good twenty minutes now. Of course it wasn't a full-on crying fit, but more like multiple sets of soft sobs.(Yay for alliteration!) He really wished she would give it a rest already. He really needed some sleep and her noise was disturbing him.(Yeah, like the noise was the only reason...)

After another ten minutes of listening to Casey trying to suppress her whimpering, he decided that he'd had enough. He flung the covers off of himself and stomped out of his room angrily before opening the door to her room and walking inside.

"Casey! I'm trying to sleep and its pretty hard to do when I can hear you crying in here!" He scolded her and she wiped the tears from her face to give him a fake-apologetic look.

"Oh, I'm _sorry_." She started sarcastically, "But in case you haven't noticed, tomorrow is our last day together for quite a while!" She said and immediately realized she had made a mistake. His eyebrows rose and she quickly continued, "I mean the family! We're off to university and who knows what's going to happen then!" She looked away in discomfort.

"Casey, you're going to come back for the holidays and you can see them then!" He reasoned. She knew he'd have an answer to that and realized she'd probably have to come clean.

Not wanting to reveal anything to Derek, she sighed loudly. She tried to just get him to leave by laying down in her bed, under the covers. "You're right, Derek. Just go back to bed. I'm just being emotional." She said, turning to face away from him. "Just do me a favor and turn off the light on your way out." She said, voice shaking. She held back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me the real reason you are crying." He said, taking it upon himself to sit on her computer chair. It was one of the only things in her room that wasn't covered by a box.

"I already told you." She replied, biting her lip to stop it from quivering.

"And I'm not buying, Case. You aren't the best liar." He smirked. She rolled her eyes and sat back up on her bed, inching towards the foot of it to get closer to Derek.

Once her eyes hit his face she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. No whimpers or sobs escaped her, just tears streaming down her almost emotionless face. He cringed at the sight of her tears and thought about bolting out of the room at that moment, but he couldn't bring himself to move.

"Fine." She spoke, trying to wipe the tears away, "You want to know why I'm so upset?" She didn't wait for his obvious answer, "I'll tell you. But I'm going to warn you. You are going to freak out and run back into your room for sure. You still want to know?" She explained before looking away from him. She was almost certain that he would just get up and leave right then but was rudely awoken as he answered.

"Yes." He replied simply. She looked back up to his eyes before taking a deep breath. _Now or never, I guess_... she thought.

"Alright... The reason I have been crying... is because after tomorrow, we'll be in separate universities and I won't have to wake up and wonder what prank you'll pull on me that day; or- or- I won't be able to see that _stupid_ smirk that you parade around with on your face when you know that you are getting what you want. Derek, after living with you these past three years, I've gotten used to you. Do you even realize that we practically can't go a whole day with out at least thinking of each other?" She explained, not even letting herself be embarrassed.

Derek couldn't believe what he was hearing. _Did she seriously just say that she was going to miss me?_ He thought. She just continued, realizing that she should just get everything out in the open.

"And I don't mean, 'oh my dear older brother, I shall miss thee!'" She started again, as she acted the last part out as if she were in a play from Shakespearean times. "Don't get me wrong, I **_will_** miss you but.. we were never family; never will be." She started. He just sat there, trying to process just exactly what was going on.

"Derek, I know this is going to sound crazy but I honestly don't think I can go a day without at least hearing your voice... in case you haven't gotten this by now, which is quite possible, knowing you... I love you. Now if you don't mind, you can just get the disgust you are feeling right now out of the way so we can just go on with our lives." She finished, fumbling with her hands.

"No." Was all he said to _everything_ she just admitted.

"No? What do you mean, 'no'?" She asked. He didn't respond. (at least not with _words_) Instead he rolled the chair closer to the bed and grabbed the back of her neck, bringing her close enough to take her lips with his for a kiss that explained to her that she wasn't alone. This kiss let her know that he felt the same way about her as she did about him. It wasn't very long, but it definitely didn't lack passion.

Afterward, they looked at each other and for the first time that night, Casey was speechless. She probably could have ranted forever about how much she loved Derek and every little thing that he does that makes her happy. Now, however, all thoughts left her as she just stared into his eyes.

"Casey. I'm anything but disgusted." He admitted.

"Uh huh..." was all she could come up with at the moment.

"There you go, using those big words." He laughed. She blushed, smiling sheepishly.

"Right... well I'm just a little... surprised is all." Finally words were forming.

"Really Case? Really. You're surprised to find out that I feel the same way?" He sounded as if someone just told him that he wasn't good looking. (Because even though he finally admitted his feelings for Casey doesn't mean he isn't conceited any more.)

"Well, I could feel it... and its one thing to have a hunch; but its a whole 'nother thing to find out that your hunch was right." She admitted, and he gave that 'Derek Venturi' smirk.

"I'm just sorry that you were right." He said and her brows furrowed in confusion which made him stutter, "I- I mean that we really can't go a whole day without thinking about each other. You're right... I mean, after being with each other all of this time in such close quarters, we don't have much room for compromise. How are we going to get through all of college when we can't go _one day_ without each other?" He wondered out loud.

"I don't know." She said, frowning.

"Well I'm not letting you get away from me that easily." He said taking her hand in his own.

"What do you propose we do?" She asked.

"We won't be that far away from each other. Maybe an hour or two maximum... I'll just come see you every weekend. Not to mention we could talk to each other every night on the phone." He suggested.

"You'd really do that?" She hoped.

"For you? Of course. Case, I know I act like a jerk, but you have to realize that its just how we are. That's why we work so well together, we get under each others skin, and I love it." He replied.

"I wouldn't trade it for the world, Venturi." She smiled and he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it, all the while looking into her eyes.

"So its settled then. Every weekend, I road trip to your dorm and we hang out, go out, whatever we feel like?" He offered.

"Sounds... perfect." She smiled before noticing that his face became more serious.

"I love you, Casey... and you know that I'm not big on talking about my feelings, so it must be true." He smiled.

"I love you too, Derek." She answered him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He responded by holding her closer, by her waist.

"We can do this." He said and this time... her tears were strictly happy ones as they silently traveled down her cheek.

"I know." She whispered into his neck, and they stayed in each others arms until Casey fell asleep. Derek lay her down on her bed and tucked her in before getting up to retreat to his own room.

"Goodnight, Case." He whispered as he turned off her lights.

* * *

**Author's note!:** Alllllllrighty then! Ace Ventura Pet Detective! haha Wow, that was random! Anyways. I hope you enjoyed it. I think maybe I might make a sequal of sorts that explains how things go as they get to college and whatnot. Let me know what you think.


	2. We're Definitely Doing This

**Author's Note:** Hey there, I know I said this was going to be a one-shot and that I was going to make a sequel or whatever, but it didn't really make sense to me, and people still added the story to their alert and whatnot, so I decided that I would just make and epilogue... AND THEN I started writing it, and realized I had a lot more of this story that I wanted to write! So my FINAL decision is to make this a chapter fic... So here it goes! :) Enjoy!

**We Can Do This**

**Chapter Two!: ****We're Definitely Doing This**

**You really think I own Life with Derek? You're silly.**

Derek had been driving for a little over forty-five minutes now and he was getting very nervous. It was his first weekend since he had started university which meant one thing: he was driving to visit Casey at her dorm. His fingers turned white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. He had another maybe half an hour before he got there, and it really had only been a week since they had seen each other at home. It was by far the _longest_ week of his entire life.

Reluctantly, he had to admit, Casey had been right. The first day in his dorm room he woke up feeling empty. Immediately he grabbed his phone and called his girlfriend.

_"Hello?" She answered groggily. Derek's eyebrow's furrowed at the sound of her voice before he glanced at his alarm clock; 3:19AM._

_"Case?" He offered._

_"Derek? Why are you calling at... three in the morning?" She said realizing the time as well._

_"Well I didn't realize what time it was but uh...I just thought you'd want to talk to me." He lied._

_"Are you sure it wasn't **you** that wanted to talk to **me**?" She smiled, knowingly._

_He chuckled nervously, "Please.. don't be silly. I mean... I totally have self control_._" He lied, **again**._

_"Derek..." She coaxed, trying to get him to tell the truth._

_"Fine. You got me. I miss you already..." He admitted._

_"Aww, poor baby." She started and he rolled his eyes, "Don't worry about it. We'll see each other in no time. I miss you too, and you know I love you. Just don't let this get in the way of your school work. I don't want you falling behind because you're thinking about me." She warned._

_"Its always about school with you isn't it?" He laughed and she smiled._

_"Is it wrong of me to want my boyfriend to be well educated?" She replied and he couldn't help but grin and the sound of her calling him his boyfriend. "Now get back to sleep, I need my beauty rest." She ordered._

_"Yes, ma'am." He replied and saluted her even though she couldn't see._

_"Goodnight, Der."_

_"'Night, Case." And with that, they hung up. Derek found himself replaying the entire conversation in his head a few (hundred) times before actually falling back to sleep._

Derek smiled as he passed a sign that told him that his exit was in 30 kilometers. _Almost there, _he thought.

**---MORE DRIVING HAPPENS!---**

Pulling into a parking space, he took a deep breath as he turned off his car. Casey had given him directions on how to get to her room from the lot that he just parked in, so he wasn't nervous about getting lost. Also it gave him an advantage of not having to call and ask her how to get there and ruin the surprise of when exactly he was coming to see her.

He stood outside of her room for a good minute and a half before working up the courage to knock. _Since when am I nervous around a girl?_ he thought before a young lady opened the door. He'd never seen her before and he _hoped_ (for dear life) that it was Casey's roommate because if he had the wrong room, it would just ruin everything.

This girl had blonde hair, with subtle strawberry highlights, and was considerably shorter than him (and most people their age). She had black framed glasses and her blue eyes flew open at the sight of him, adding a squeal. Derek was completely confused, to say the least.

"You! You're! Oh my gosh!" She screamed before slamming the door in his face. He looked around the hallway awkwardly. _That was... interesting?_ he thought. He grabbed his phone and was about to text Casey when the door opened again.

"Derek!" He heard before looking up from his cell phone.

"Casey!" He smiled and leaped forward, bringing her into a crushing hug.

"Der, I really can't breathe right now." She managed to expel from her mouth.

"Oh, sorry." He said, releasing her slightly, but not letting go of her waist.

"It's alright." She smiled. Looking into each others eyes for the first time in a week, Derek almost forgot all about the weirdo girl that answered the door. (Almost!)

"So, who was that creepy girl who answered the door?" He asked.

"Derek." She scolded him for calling her creepy, "She isn't a creep, she's my roommate. Her name is Lily."

"Why did she scream when she saw me?" He wondered.

"Well I've... shown her pictures, and you know... talked about you." She said looking away from him.

He followed her gaze so she was now looking into his eyes again.

"Hey! No being ashamed! I talk about you all the time to my roommate, too!" He tried to comfort her. She rolled her eyes.

"Your roommate is Sam!" She laughed.

"True, but that doesn't mean its different! Listen. How about we get out of here and grab something to eat?" He offered.

"Good idea, just let me get changed. I wasn't expecting you to come so early." She gestured to the pajamas she was wearing.

"Well, the earlier I came, the faster I got to see you, so..." He explained.

"Awww, you sap." She teased.

"Just go change, Spacey." he turned her around and pushed her towards the door.

"You can come in and wait, you know." She offered.

"Uh, I think I'll pass. Your roommate kind of freaks me out." He declined.

"Alright, that's it. You're coming in to meet her properly." She said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him in with her.

Once they got inside, they noticed Lily was in the tiny, 'Living space' where they had a fluffy, purple chair and a small 13" TV.

"Lily, there is someone I would like you to meet." She started and Lily stood up immediately. "This is Derek, my boyfriend." She added, "Derek, this is Lily, my roommate who has quickly become my best friend, already." She explained.

Derek extended his hand and Lily took it, and gave him a proper handshake before letting go.

"Nice to meet you, Derek. Sorry if my little display before scared you. I've just heard so much about you." She said and took a step towards Casey to whisper in her ear, "He's a lot more attractive in person! He's a keeper!" She giggled. Casey smiled in response.

"Nice to meet you, too." He replied.

"Good, now that you two have been introduced, I'm going to go change for our date." She informed him before leaving to their own bathroom to change. _Our date_, he thought, _I like the sound of it._

"So... how long have you known Casey for?" She asked. Derek looked at her in surprise. _Didn't Casey say that they were like, best friends already? Shouldn't she know this by now? I bet she didn't tell her that we're step-siblings._ He thought, _Do I even want her to?_

"About three years or so..." He answered honestly.

"I see..." She responded, "I hear you two are very close." She added.

"Yeah, you could say that. We just started dating, but uh... before that, we were really good friends." He explained.

"And step-siblings?" She asked.

"She told you?" He was astonished, and his stomach kind of twisted in fear. He'd only had this conversation with one other person, and that was Sam. Of course, being the awesome friend he is, he couldn't care less about the unconventional relationship between him and Casey and greatly encouraged it. He wasn't sure how Lily thought about it.

"Yes. But don't worry, I don't care!" She laughed and he let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. "Actually, this is going to sound strange, but my boyfriend is actually _my _step-brother too." She admitted.

"Wow, what are the odds?" He responded. He really wished Casey would just hurry up already.

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**Author's Note:** Alright. I hope you enjoyed chapter two of 'We Can Do This!' haha, I know its not the best... but it will get better.


	3. You Sure We Can Do This? OLD HABITS

**Author's Note!:** Alright... here it is. For those of you who have not seen the spoilers for the series at all, I will spare you the details. I just feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster that never ends haha. Anyways. With the spoilers, my story doesn't make much sense, but that is the great thing about fanfiction. Its FAN made. haha Therefore it can be what I want, WHEN I WANT IT. haha. Anyways! I am sorry for the long wait, but I just couldn't bring myself to finally type this out. It was completely written about a week ago. I just was too lazy and the spoilers were kind of getting me down. However the most recent spoiler got me back up, ridiculously high, in fact. HAHA. So here it is!

**We Can Do This**

_A Life with Derek Fan Fiction_**  
**

**Chapter Three!:**

**You're Sure We Can Do This?! (Old Habits)  
**

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Life with Derek, because if I did, these darn spoilers would be a lot freakin' better! haha

As if she was reading his mind, Casey appeared back into the room. He mentally sighed in relief. Its not that he hated Lily, but what could he say? First impressions say a lot about a person and Lily's impression had told him that she was nuts.

Derek looked Casey over from head to toe, all the while a ridiculous grin on his face. She was wearing tight fitting dark blue jeans and a teal scoop-neck long-sleeved shirt that made her eyes pop out vibrantly. Her hair was in waves that fell past her shoulders and seemed to accentuate some of her _curves_. (If you know what he means. Hey! He's still a guy!)

"Wow." He said and she beamed at him.

"Thanks." She started and her face fell, "I think." He chuckled and inched closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist, forgetting that there was even anyone else in the room.

"You look amazing." He whispered into her ear, giving her goose bumps.

"Alright, stud. Let's get going. I guess I'll drive since you have no idea where you are going." She offered, grabbing his wrists were securely fastened to her hips and dragging him towards the door.

"Hey. I'm a man, of course I know where I'm going." He protested.

"Oh please." She started as she opened the door, "See you later, Lil!" She yelled before proceeding out of their dorm room.

"Have fun, lovebirds!" Lily replied just before the door shut.

Derek followed Casey to her car, a present from her father for being valedictorian of her graduating class. As they got into their respective seats, they buckled up and continued to sit in silence.

"So, this is like our first date, huh?" Derek asked, making the already awkward situation, even _more_ awkward.

"Uh, yeah." She answered reluctantly, "But first dates are always so... stiff and odd, and its like... we've already known each other for so long, let's just pretend its not." She continued her neurotic explanation.

"Fine with me." He responded lightly. When Casey still hadn't started the car he started to get a little worried. "Case?" He offered and she jumped.

"Huh? What?" She replied nervously.

"Hey, calm down its just me. Where are we going to eat?" He tried to relax her.

"Oh, well... there is a nice little restaurant about twenty minutes away. I figured it would be good." She explained.

"Sounds perfect." He replied, rubbing her arm gently. She jumped at his touch and hurt flashed across his face.

"I'm sorry. I'm just really nervous all of a sudden." She explained once she saw his reaction.

"Its okay, but its just like you said... we've known each other for a long time, it hardly counts as a first date. Our feelings are already out in the open. I love you, remember?" He explained calmly.

"I love you too." She smiled and put a hand to his cheek lightly.

"Do you want me to drive?" He asked, "Seeing as you're all nervous and whatnot." He added.

She laughed loudly, "You think I'm going to let you drive my car after the many times you denied me from driving 'The Prince'?" She answered, now in hysterics.

"Hey! I let you drive The Prince... a few times." He argued playfully.

"Yeah a few... out of about a thousand! That hardly constitutes as enough for me to let you drive my car!"

"Psh! Like I'd want to drive your car anyways. It doesn't even have a name." He folded his arms across his chest childishly.

"For your information, she does too have a name!" She said confidently.

"Which is?" He raised his eyebrows and the confidence quickly faded from her posture as she looked away.

"I'm not telling you." She answered quietly.

"Because there isn't one, is there?" He smirked in defiance.

"Yes there is!" She yelled pointing at him, "But I can't tell you because you'll think I'm lame and unoriginal." She sat back in her chair in defeat.

"Oh, come on, Case. Its not like I don't think that already!" He smiled jokingly. She gasped and hit his chest, fighting back the smile that wanted to pop onto her face.

"Kidding!" He put his hands up in defense. "But really; just tell me what it is. I won't make fun of you." He said.

She snorted in disbelief, "You? Not make fun of me? Please, its what you live for." She answered.

He put a hand to his chest in mock disappointment, "I'm hurt."

"Oh, shut up." She smiled, "But if you _must_ know... her name is princess." She offered.

He held back a bit of laughter at the cliche name. "Well, that's not... that bad." He closed his eyes so he felt like he wasn't _directly_ lying to her.

"Stop lying. I can always tell when you are. But its more than just the girl version of your car's name. Don't you remember it was just about the first 'nickname' you ever gave me?" She said putting air quotes around the word, 'nickname'.

He thought hard about this but remembered the incident where the 'rents had offered to fix up the basement and she protested. He smiled at the memory as she started to talk again.

"I was complaining about having to living in the basement and you said, 'can-" She started but was interrupted by Derek.

"Can we say 'princess'?" He started, and it brought Casey way back. He had said it the _exact _same way as he had done a few years before. "Yes, I remember, Spacey." He smiled at her an pinched her cheek. To this action she rolled her eyes, _Yep. Still the same old Derek._ She thought.

"Yeah, well as much as I hate it when you call me that; its still kind of cute." She explained.

"Well, that's me in a nutshell: cute." He smirked.

"Okay, enough of that... we're leaving." She said, making a move to finally start the car. As she reached the keys, she felt a hand on hers. Immediately she glanced at the owner of the hand in confusion, ignoring the tingling sensation she felt on the area where his hand had touched hers. She saw the ridiculous smirk on his face once again. _Oh, that can't be good._ She thought.

"Here..." He started, now grabbing the keys that were in the ignition, "At least let me turn the princess on." He chuckled in a raspy voice at the double-meaning.

Casey froze momentarily in her spot. He face flushed as she moved her hand from the keys into her lap. Derek turned the keys and started the car before sitting back in his seat.

_This is **way** better than the **old** way of getting her riled up,_ He thought as he turned his head to look at a very still Casey.

"Case? You okay?" Smirk still in place.

"What? Oh, yeah... great." She replied mindlessly. She shook her head quickly, trying to rid herself of the feeling that Derek had given her. Once she had seemed to compose herself again, she pulled out of the parking space, finally, and started driving to the aforementioned restaurant.

* * *

Once they got to the restaurant, Derek jumped out of the car and ran to the other side to open her door. Surprised, she gave him her hand and he pulled her out of her seat.

"You are Derek Venturi, right?" She teased and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry. Would you _like_ me to be less polite? Because you of all people know I _can_ be." He answered, smiling all the while.

Chuckling they both entered the restaurant and seated themselves at a cozy booth. Derek looked around in curiosity. This place looked vaguely like _Smelly Nelly's_ except a bit smaller. Casey picked up the menu and started reading it.

Derek's eyes wandered around his environment and stopped on an attractive young woman who seemed to be waiting on an old married couple. (He was still Derek Venturi, after all.)

His eyes roamed her body silently, (or so he thought) before he felt a _**WHACK!**_ on his forehead.

"Der-ek!" Casey reprimanded him.

"What did I do?" He asked innocently.

"Oh, like you don't know! You were ogling that waitress!" She explained.

He gasped in mock surprise, "Casey!" He started, "I cannot believe you think I would do that right in front of you!" He replied.

"Oh, please!" She said, rolling her eyes and leaning back into her side of the booth. She was only there for a second when a thought hit her and she shot back forward again raising an accusatory finger at him. "But you'd do it **_not_** right in front of me?" She asked frantically.

Derek grabbed her hand and rubbed it gently. "Casey... you know I love you and I'd never do anything to hurt you or to screw this up. I've been waiting too long for this to finally happen." He told her in all seriousness. The look in his eyes told her that he was being truthful.

She gave a half smile, not meaning to be insincere. She just was still upset that he was eye-raping another girl to begin with.

"I just don't appreciate you ignoring that I am even here too look at some girl, who may be prettier than me, yes... but-" She started and he stopped her.

"Hey! No. Don't say that. **No one**, and I mean _no one..._ is more beautiful than you are. Just ignore my idiocy. You know I'm not good at this type of stuff. Sally was my only steady girlfriend, and that isn't saying much, you know?" He replied, grabbing her hand to reassure her.

"Yeah, I know. But that's what I am here for. I just have to make sure you know when you're being an egotistical, selfish, vain, self-righteous, arrogant-"

"Yeah." He started, wincing at the amount of insults, "I think I get it, Klutzilla." He finished. She smiled sheepishly at him.

"Sorry... I get a little carried away when insulting you. Old habits, right?" She laughed.

"Here's to old habits, dying hard." He said, raising his glass of complimentary water that the waitress had somehow delivered without the noticing. Casey raised her glass in return. After clanking their glasses and taking a sip, they both leaned forward over the table and shared a peck on the lips.

_I **definitely** could get used to this,_ Derek thought as he looked at Casey who was contently reading the menu once again.

* * *

**Author's note!:** I know, this chapter **_is_** crap, thank you for noticing!! haha. I don't know why, but it was just plain HORRIBLE. But thanks to those of you who like Lily, I made her up... Kind of. Alright, she's practically me! haha Other than the actually story behind her. I don't have a step-brother/boyfriend. I don't even have a regular boyfriend. haha She just looks like me, except I believe she'd be a bit skinnier. haha ANYWAYS. I am _trying _to make her act like me? Like really? If _I_ saw Michael Seater at _my_ door, I think I may just scream and slam the door in his face. But that is besides the point. **THE POINT IS!:** Be on the lookout for my NEW fan fiction. (No this one isn't over yet... but I'm still posting a new one) Its basically _my _version of what the Life with Derek movie should be, INCLUDING the spoilers. So if you haven't been spoiled yet, and don't wish to be, then stay away from my new fan fic. It's going to be called, **"Only in the Movies"**. Thanks peeps! Review, if you'd like!


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